Update on Toilet Project!

We are happy to announce that we will begin construction of 4 flush toilets in the school on Monday May 19th. We will also be repairing 2 existing toilets at the school that for much time have been broken. We have sufficient funds at the moment but are still missing about 300.00 to complete the job. We hope that more generous donations will be made:)!

We have a construction/plumbing team that will working with us (discounted because this is a community project) as well as students and teachers that will be volunteering to help with the construction. Basically we will be digging holes (until it kills us or maybe just me....) This is going to be some REAL volunteer work.

We are very excited to begin this project because it will change the environment greatly at this school. I wrote before that the kids at the moment have 1 toilet for more that 900 students (I was mistaken on the number previously it is more like 1100 students for 1 toilet.) The unsanitary conditions of the toilet were witnessed by our team the day we visited and we have never been able to forget about it. Therefore, we hope to create a more sanitary and respectable environment for the kids who attend.

Thanks to those who have donated and especially to a student named Karine who managed to raise 1200 in her home town of Montreal to donate to our project. She as well will be helping dig holes with our team.

I would also like to especially thank Oliver Hartman who got the ball rolling on this project by making connections with the construction team. He also plans to work 8 hr days helping the construction team on site.... That is devotion! Therefore, it is my pleasure to invite Oliver to be apart of our project. This comes at a convenient time since I will be going home to Canada in less than 3 weeks and Oliver will be here in Granada for a year. Oliver will be able to help Andres and Juan Carlos continue to make positive changes for our original school project in "Jose de la Cruz Mena".

thank you Kathryn.

Helping the streets dogs

I just wanted to post a quick blurb about the organization "Building New Hope" which is helping many streets dogs get off the street and find homes in Granada. I have recently taken on a secondary volunteer job helping with the dogs in the clinic and I am in love with the kindness of these people and what they are doing.

Basically they find dogs that are dying along the side of street (if you have been to a third world country you know what I am talking about) and bring these animals back to life. I got to witness the revival of a baby chihuahua that was left for dead on the side of the street and brought into the clinic. Within two days, she is a puppy, running around and loving on all of us.

Please take the time and check out Donna Tabor's website www.buildingnewhope.org and keep them in mind if you want to help the puppies or adopt a lovely street dog (which surprisingly make amazing pets... they are wise!)

The picture at the top is Porsha who is still looking for a home. She is missing an eye due to a severe infection caused by abuse. She has an amazing personality and is sooooo friendly.

thanks Kathryn.

The Toilets.

Right now our main focus is another school close by to our main project site "Jose de la Cruz Mena". The reason why we are now putting more focus on this other school called Escuela "Mercedes Mondagón" is because of the attocity that we all witnessed when we visted this other school. For a school of 900 children there are 2 toilets. However one toilet is locked and reserved for the teachers. Therefore, in reality there is one toilet for 900 children. I should also add that the toilet does not flush.

The situation is completely unsanitary. Once the toilet is full of human feces, the children begin to go on the floor and then they will venture behind the toilet and go on the dirt ground. Our concern is for the children and also for the woman who cleans up the toilet at the end of the day. Most of us couldn't bare the smell nor the sight. I felt sad that this is a reality for the children and feel that noone should have to go to the bathroom in these horrid conditions. I would also like to point out that the director of the school has written the government countless times and they have done nothing to improve her situation.

Our wish is that we can build either 6 flush toilets or 6 outhouses for this school. This requires about 4,000 dollars that we need to raise.

We do not try to go out of our way to find new projects outside of what we want to do (help and supply the kids in El Pantanal) but this situation is one that we cannot forget nor ignore. Please help us raise more money!!!!

Please send me suggestions as well. Puedenreir@gmail.com

Kathryn, Andres, y Juan Carlos

Volunteer day in El Pantanal

On Tuesday of last week we ventured to the school "Jose de la Cruz Mena" with a group of 30 students from San Francisco. The goal was to get their hands dirty and to experience Nicaragua outside of the tranquility of Granada. Our 3 projects included painting a murale, planting trees, and collecting garbage along the edges of the school. For the most part, the projects went smoothly and the teenagers got to know the children of the school quite well. Unfortunately, a crazy Spaniard named Nas started a paint fight and everyone ended up covered from head to toe. Luckily for everyone, the paint came off our skin and clothes easily.
The project with the trees will also provide volunteer opportunities for the students in Casa Xalteva. We will be needing students to visit the school and look after the trees. Watering and care projects will soon be implemented. As for now, the director of the school is in charge of making sure that the trees are watered.
The best part of the day was seeing all the children having fun with the "gringitos". So far we have been quite successful in making the children of the school laugh.. as we have wanted to (Si Quieres, Pueden Reir.)

Pictures from the volunteer day with the teens from San Francisco

Do you want to help us??

If you would like to send us something that could help right now... We need dry eraser pens for the new acrylic white boards that we donated to the school. We have donated about 12, but we need to continue to donate the pens to the school as they dry out quite fast. Here is the address to Casa Xalteva if you are at all interested in this opportunity.

Casa Xalteva
Calle Real Xalteva #103
Igl. Xalteva 1/2 al Norte
Granada, Nicaragua
Please address your package with the name Juan Carlos Roblero and Si Quieres, Pueden Reir.


We are still working on a good way for foreign donations that does not require a lot of time or hassle. However, money is continually needed as our next big project requires a fairly large amount of money. We are hoping to build a few toilets for another school close by to "Jose de la Cruz Mena". The situation is very horrifying as there are 900 students and one toilet that does not work. Therefore, the conditions are EXTREMELY unsanitary and unsafe for the children. I will be posting more information on this topic soon. But for now, I would love to have feeback about ways to promote foreign donations and ways to send money to a country like Nicaragua.
please email me at puedenreir@gmail.com

thanks!

We Care About the Kids in El Pantanal

Jose De La Cruz Mena is becoming a more adequate environment for the Children of El Pantanal. On Friday, we delivered the school 2 brand new beautifully handcrafted wooden book shelves. The director of the school had made it clear to us that his biggest desire was to have a place to put all the books that had been donated to the school. So the director was extremely appreciative of the donation and requested that we place a plack on the book shelves with the name of our project "Si Quieres, Pueden Reir". This is so that the students of the school remember that our project has helped their school tremendously. We will of course follow through with this request.

This Tuesday, we will be returning to the school with a group of 30 students to do some serious volunteer work. Our plan for that day is as follows- 1 group will be planting trees around the edge of the fence to promote shade for the students. We will be buying trees that do not require a lot of water and thrive in the tropical conditions of Nicaragua. The second group will be collecting garbage in El Pantanal with a group of designated students from the school "Jose de la Cruz Mena". This is a great learning experience for the students from the USA because they will get to see how people in El Pantanal are living and will have a chance to improve the environmental conditions. It is also important for the Nicaraguan students, as there is a severe problem or lack of consciouness towards the physical environment. This beautiful country is ridden with garbage because of the simple act of littering pretty much everything. We hope to promote the simple task of placing garbage in the correct place (not in the streets, trees, gutters, ditches ect.) Our third project is going to be a murale that both our American students and Nica students will be doing together. The murale will be placed on an obvious wall in the school, so that the kids in El Pantanal can remember this day. I will be writing about this day, after it occurs, and I will be positing many pictures!

I also want to especially thank a fellow named Karsten from Denmark who not only donated a very generous amount to us but encouraged his friends at home to donate. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. His passion to help others is extremely obvious and we all think very highly of him. Que te vaya bien.

Que tengan un buen dia.
Kathryn, Andres, y J.C.